To avoid man-mal conflict, villagers near UP's Suhelwa Sanctuary stay alert

People residing in villages near the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh are forced to stay awake at night most of the time to avoid any conflict with mals, especially leopards, which come out of the forest area seeking water.

"The leopards mostly attack the people in villagers in night or when they go out in open for defecation. Because of this, people are forced stay awake at night. The administration needs to do something for the safety of people in these villages," a local resident said

Another local added, "The government should do something for our safety. People here are angry with the administration for failing to provide protection to us. If the situation will remain the same, the people will be forced to protest."

Due to the heat wave conditions, water crisis has become a big issue for most of the villages. Not just human beings, mals too have suffered badly due to this.

"Leopards generally stay near the fringes of and often comes out of the area. There are several villages near the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary as its boundaries are in zigzag form. The incidents increase in March and April during the crop cutting. For this, the forest department takes a lot of measures, especially officials visit these villages and make people aware about leopard movement to avoid any conflict," said Divisional Forest Officer RK Mittal.

Occupying an area of 452 sq km, the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Shravasti, Balrampur and Gonda districts of Uttar Pradesh.

( With inputs from ANI )